


Light in the Dark

by myunhealthyaddiction



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29386785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myunhealthyaddiction/pseuds/myunhealthyaddiction
Summary: Pitch had told Jack once that nothing went together better than cold and dark. Jack had refused to believe as such. But now, looking back on what he and Johanna had just survived... Maybe it would've have been the perfect deadly combination. (Sequel to The Elemental's Curse)
Kudos: 1





	1. pestis

Weak, strained coughs echoed in a one-room shack, boarded up and shunned from society. Edward Britton shook violently in his makeshift bed of dry hay and the hard dirt of the ground, but his hand never released its hold for comfort that came from his angel. His fingers had gone numb long ago, making it impossible to tell how hard he was his visitor’s hand. But the angel did not complain. She simply ran her free hand through the dirty-blond hair plastered to his forehead and hummed a lullaby, content at his side.

In his haze of illness and paralysis, Edward had a lot of time to appreciate the beauty of the angel that sat so dutifully at his side. He would often lock eyes with her soft blue irises as her wavy blonde hair fell graciously over her shoulders. Whenever he found the strength to, he would reach up and stroke the long locks, and he’d be reminded that though the beauty beside him was delectably pale, her unblemished features were as tanned as a foreign trader when compared to his sickly form.

They mostly remained silent, enjoying one another’s company as the world outside the shack continued on, seemingly oblivious to their existence. But there were times where Edward could no longer stand the silence, and though his voice was raspy and hard to understand, he spoke anyway. 

“Mum and Dad are with the Man in the Moon?”

“Martha and Elizabeth, too. They’re waiting for you, Edward.”

What convinced Edward that his angel was a princess was the tiny tiara nestled in her hair. The diamonds were shaped to imitate flowers and leaves, glittering like the silk gold he had once seen the king and queen wear during a festival celebration. And his angel was just as beautiful as the Queen of England, if not more; he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

“Angel?”

“Yes, Edward?”

“I’m scared.” 

“I know. But I won’t leave you.”

“Does dying hurt?”

“It’s as painless as falling asleep.” A small sigh escaped her cherry-colored lips, though her contradicting smile was able to relieve some of his worry instantly. “And when you wake up, you’ll be in paradise.” 

Edward let out a shaky breath as the hurt in his chest started to dull. “Will I see you there?”

“One day, I suppose.”

Edward nodded, feeling too tired to continue the light conversation. He could feel his heartbeat slowing down, his eyelids becoming heavier with every blink. His breaths were slowing and relaxing. Falling asleep was always a scary experience anymore, unsure if he would ever wake up again. But his angel was right; he would simply fall asleep and wake up in paradise as long as she remained by his side. 

“Do you have a name, Angel?” Edward whispered, his grip beginning to lax. 

“Johanna,” she gently responded, tightening her grip slightly and leaning closer to him. “Johanna Aegle.”

“Johanna…” 

And in the tense silence that followed, Edward’s eyes slid closed and his hand relaxed completely. Johanna began softly humming the lullaby she’d sung to so many children before, releasing his hand and leaning forward to give him a soft kiss on the forehead before she stood to her feet. She wouldn’t leave him just yet. She had to make sure. He could have simply fallen asleep. 

“Ah, Lady Joan Plantagenet.” 

Johanna peered over her shoulder, frowning at the cloaked figure that entered the room, bringing a dark and foreboding presence with it. 

“You know that’s not my name anymore, Ankou. What business do you have here?”

“This child has passed,” he told her bluntly, though his eyes showed her empathy as she felt a pang in her heart. “I’m simply here to do my job as you have so eloquently done yours.”

“You promise you’ll take him to Father?”

“As I’ve done for all of the children before.”

She watched in discomfort as Ankou approached Edward, his boney hands reaching out to collect the poor child’s soul. Ankou’s thin, white hair fell from under his hood as he knelt, a sharp contrast to his black robes. 

“You know this isn’t a pleasant thing to witness, Johanna. I suggest you take your leave; you’ve done all you can for Mr. Britton. The pest you seek as long left.”

Johanna allowed herself one more glance at Edward’s still figure before quickly retreating to the dirty, desolate streets of London. Just outside the shack sat Ankou’s cart, his pet owl perched in the front seat. Johanna didn’t know its name or if it even had a name. The owl observed her for a moment before letting out its Banshee’s Howl of a screech, telling her Edward was now truly passing on. Suddenly feeling much lower in spirit, Johanna felt unable to stay to see Ankou off.

She moved slowly though the slums of London, listening intently for the sounds of lonely children or the telltale signs of the pest’s whereabouts. In the near distance, she could see the Tower of London standing tall and proud, which held her few memories of her mortal life. She could see glimpses in her mind of the king and queen wishing her well in their farewells whenever her eyes caught sight of the intimidating structure. She’d quickly learned from Ankou that her lack of knowledge of her previous life was uncommon in spirits, but she’d always been afraid to ask her creators for any information.

When Johanna had first awoken as Moon and Nature’s child, she found herself in the charred remains of a once grand castle overlooking a distraught, sickly village in what she later learned was the country of France. All she’d known was her spiritual name and whom her creators were. It had been from Ankou that she learned of her mortal life, and he had warned her to not let her mother know that she knew the truth. 

“You are a Guardian of Childhood,” Mother Nature had told her as she led her from Plantagenet Castle and pointed towards the pest’s last known presence. “Born from fire in the brightest moonlight. You are the warmth of comfort, the light in the Great Plague. You will be the fire that burns the pest from existence.” 

“You were chosen because of your demise,” Ankou offhandedly told her in their third meeting, after the third child she’d stay with had died. 

“I don’t care much for your riddles, Ankou.” 

His blunt answer had chilled her to the core, the only time she’d ever felt cold as a fire elemental.

“Young Princess Joan, the pride of England’s crown, stolen away by the very plague she now comforts dying children through, the very plague she is asked to destroy to save the children of the world.”

Though the mortals couldn’t begin to see it, that very plague was beginning to subside. She had followed the pest throughout the world, spreading hope and comfort of the warmth that destroyed the pest’s instilled fear in it’s survivors, weakening the grip on the next generation that whispered of an angel of fire sent by God to be their salvation. 

It left Johanna wondering what her purpose would be, once the world was finally rid of the pest. There would always be an ill child somewhere in the world, and she could easily sit with them wherever they were, as adults were unable to see her. But the reason behind her resurrection had been the plague. And as the pest began to tire out, she could feel herself tire out, too. 

But as she watched the sun set against the tower she used to call her home, she set her sights back on the name that she would whisper into every fire until she burned the holder of the name itself. 

“Yersinia.”


	2. nelaime

“Head’s up, Gramps!”

Pitch let out an annoyed, low growl before the snowball even hit the back of his head. Behind him, the laughter of four very familiar elementals filled the normally dead air of his underground hideout. Without a doubt, he concluded his grandchildren would be the death of him if he ever suddenly lost his immortality.

Looking over his shoulder, scattered amongst the surface he’d been walking past, were his three grandsons of Winter, Autumn, and Summer, and his granddaughter of Spring, holding their stomachs as they cried so hard that tears were spilling from their eyes. And as always, Jack Frost’s faithful mini tooth fairy was in tow, no longer scared of the place she’d once been imprisoned in. 

“Remind me again why I got stuck babysitting you four?”

“It’s not babysitting,” Jack retorted, flashing his signature smile that dripped with fake innocence. “It’s family bonding, and it’s what Mother wanted.”

“Yes, we mustn’t upset her, of course,” Pitch muttered as he turned back to head down the corridor. 

“Aw, c’mon, Pitch!” Jack let out a hearty laugh, and Pitch had to greatly refrain from just slipping into the shadows to escape; he had promised Seraphina he would try. “You can’t be a sour apple all the time! You’ll get even more wrinkles if you keep scowling like that.”

Pitch paused, looking back over his shoulder at his former rival, letting a small smirk pull his lips upwards. “Are you calling me old, Jackson?”

“To be fair,” Alex spoke up, an eyebrow raised in a defiance he shared with his brother. “He isn’t exactly calling you young when he calls you Gramps.”

“You’re not so innocent yourself, Alexander.”

Alex groaned, sending a half-hearted glare towards Jack’s amused expression and snickers. “I hate it when you call me that.”

“It is your name, is it not?”

“Yeah, but-” Alex threw his hands around as he ranted, not realizing Jack and Chris were mimicking him from behind. “-I like to distinguish myself from my mortal life! Ever since the mortals came out with that one musical, all any of my siblings ever do when they see me is sing that damned song!”

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON!” The other three spirits sang off-key, causing Alex to whip around and glare daggers their way. 

“For mine and Alexander’s sanity-” Pitch chuckled softly. “-I might just lock you three in some of those cages I still have lying around until the next season.”

“What good would that do?” Jack enquired as he finally managed to get his laughter under control. Mostly. “We could still be as loud as we want.”

Pitch blankly stared at his grandson before answering. 

“Because I could easily drop you off in the opposite season for a nice, long vacation.”

“No way!” Chris immediately protested, calling to the wind to propel himself into the air, away from the tendril of shadows that had started inching closer to him. “I refuse to be forced to hang around the elves or the yetis or especially Jack’s Antarctica militia!”

“His what?” Daisy began laughing. “You mean his armada of cuddly, flightless birds?”

“Well, it’s not like I’d want to be stuck in your Sahara that you, for some reason, insist is a paradise,” Jack mumbled. 

“We could easily arrange to just leave you in the darkest depths here,” Pitch pointed out. “A lovely reminder of your stay that one Easter, yes? How many years has that been now? Eight?”

Jack glared at Pitch, opening his mouth to most likely retort with something about Pitch’s humiliating defeat at his hands, when the familiar sound of the ground rumbling and opening up stopped him short. The rabbit hole appeared between the elementals and Pitch, and out hopped Bunny, who immediately stood tall as his eyes fell upon Jack. The spirit of Easter looked anything but happy. 

“I’ve been looking all over for you, ya gumby! North sent out the lights two hours ago!” 

“It’s not-” Daisy began, but Bunny quickly shook his head.

After Old Man Winter’s attempt on Jack’s life seven years ago, the Guardians and all of Mother Nature’s children remained almost constantly on edge, afraid he might suddenly escape Pluto and strike when they least expected it. But all had remained relatively calm amongst the spirit world until the previous months. 

“There’s been a few new outbreaks on America’s East Coast,” Bunny explained. “Manny wants us to go check on the children in the affected areas, see who’s ill and who’s healthy, what we can do to help, if we can do anything to help…”

Jack nodded, his frame becoming rigid at Bunny’s words. The outbreak of the Coronavirus had swept across the world within the past few months and the numbers were steadily rising with no sign of stopping. It had made Easter this year hard for Bunny, having to pull some pretty elaborate tricks to get eggs to children who weren’t allowed to go out to egg hunt. America, it seemed, was now getting the short end of the stick, and Jack had gone with Bunny on several check-up missions to the affected areas.

It seemed almost unnatural to Pitch, seeing Jack so tensed up and the other elementals mellowing out as they all gathered around Jack.

“Can we come too, Bunny?” Daisy asked, her tone begging. “I’m sure Mother won’t mind.”

Bunny seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding. “A few more pairs of eyes couldn’t hurt. Go meet the others. We’ll go in pairs of two.”

Pitch kept himself quiet. Even though his relations with the Guardians and the elementals had greatly improved, it still wasn’t his place to offer help. There wasn’t much he could do anyway. Though he did suspect that the Sandman knew he was drawing out as much fear as he could through children’s own creations of nightmares to allow Sandy better success at turning them into carefree dreams.

Alex, Chris, and Daisy quickly dispatched from the lair to meet with the other Guardians while Bunny and Jack left via Bunny’s tunnels. Jack kept up with Bunny fairly easy; their impromptu races were starting to pay off.

“Where are we going this time?”

Jack couldn’t see Bunny’s face as he continued leading the way, but he could feel Bunny’s hesitation before giving an answer.

“Burgess.”


	3. plaga

As much as Jack wanted to immediately rush to Jamie Bennett’s home and check on his first believer, he knew Bunny was right in reminding him they had to check on all of the other children first. Jack knew how much Jamie’s sister Sophie meant to Bunny. It was best they check on the siblings last; it would give them more time to stick around since it would be their last stop. 

The next hour or two were almost a blur to Jack, but he was able to comprehend that most people that had contracted the disease, it seemed, were adults that either lived with a single partner or by themselves. There were very few children to check in on for more than a moment in a sick household. Jack supposed it was a glimmer of hope in the whole mess. 

For every household that held someone ill, child or adult, Jack left a sign for Mother Nature, something like a simple snowflake on the rooftop that could last for a while in the rising temperatures. She had been spending the last month traveling around the world after the Guardians, using the will and whims of nature as she could to try and naturally inhibit and destroy the disease. It worried Jack that Mother Nature was so concerned about the Coronavirus. Disease was naturally a part of life, and pandemics were as well, unfortunately, but the spirit felt something was off about this particular one, as if it was never supposed to happen.

Most of Jamie’s friends lived in the half of the town that Jack was assigned to survey. Cupcake was on Bunny’s half, but Jack was able to check in on Pippa and Monty, who made sure to wave as he passed before returning to their homework. Jack had heard the schools had been closed and teachers were relying on parents to get kids their homework and keep them on track in their education. 

Claude and Caleb’s window was open when Jack flew by, and he backtracked when he heard them call out to him as they noticed him flying away. 

“You two doing okay?” Jack asked as he flew into their room and landed on Caleb’s bed gracefully. “It can’t be fun being cooped up like this.”

“At least we have the run of the house,” Claude frowned. “Jamie’s mom is making him quarantine in his room. Brings up his food and everything. And he’s been kind of keeping to himself. We haven’t really heard anything for a few days now.”

“We were thinking you might know something, Jack,” Caleb piped up. “We didn’t know if we hadn’t heard from him because he’s ill or…”

“Is there anything you can do, Jack?” Claude asked. “If Jamie is ill?”

Jack fought to keep a frown from pulling his lips down. Even though Jamie and his friends were now sixteen and understood the limitations that even magic and immortals had, he knew that hope was what they needed more right now than reality. 

“Mother Nature is using some of her older techniques from the Middle Ages,” Jack explained. “It seems to be working fairly well so far. So if anything’s wrong with Jamie, I’ll get her immediately.” 

Their shoulders seemed to loosen in relief at his words. 

“Tell Jamie to text us, yeah?” Claude asked.

“Of course.”

Claude and Caleb watched as Jack took off to the sky, checking on other apartment complexes in their neighborhood. Their part of town was the least affected so far, and Jack hoped it would stay that way. 

As soon as Bunny came to meet up with Jack by the memorial statue downtown, he raced off towards the Bennett home further in the suburb area of the city, Bunny hot on his tail. He knew Pitch would probably feel the slight tremors of fear Jack felt as he and Bunny approached Jamie’s window, as the sun began to set into an orange and pink sky and Burgess began to wind down for the day. 

Jamie was sitting at his desk on the opposite end of his room from his single window. His back was facing Jack and Bunny as he was hunched over, deeply concentrated on whatever he was working on. Jack gently tapped on the window with his staff, pulling Jamie from his concentration as he looked over the window to beam at the two spirits. He quickly rushed from his desk to the window to let them in.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you guys,” Jamie started as he pulled the window open and stepped aside. “I figured you’d be busy in, you know, the big cities like LA or something, where it’s really bad.”

“We’re on a check up mission, since there was an outbreak downtown,” Bunny explained. “You’re our last stop, so we thought we’d stop by to chat.”

“You’re not sick,” Jack observed with relief.

Jamie shook his head. “I’m fine. Sophie’s getting better day by day. It’s slow, but it’s progress. Doctor said she should be feeling mostly fine in about a week or two.”

Bunny’s ears immediately drooped and Jack almost dropped his staff. Jamie raised an eyebrow at their reactions.

“Sophie’s sick?” Bunny asked.

“Yeah,” Jamie responded, still incredibly confused by their reactions. “She and Dad got COVID from one of Dad’s coworkers. Sophie had it worse than Dad; he’s already back to working. I… I thought you guys knew since that really nice lady has been sitting with her.”

“Who?” Jack enquired, his grip tightening on his staff.

“Um, a spirit,” Jamie responded, pointing towards his bedroom door. “She’s been sitting with Sophie since the second day. Dad and Mom can’t see her. I thought you guys sent her to sit with Sophie.”

Jack and Bunny exchanged concerned glances with each other before turning back to a now worried-looking Jamie.

“Take us to her.”


	4. izurria

Jack and Bunny watched silently as Jamie secured his face mask and latex gloves. He glanced up at the spirits as he put rubber bands around his wrist to secure the gloves. 

“I’m not allowed to go into her room and see her without these on,” he explained. “Mom’s terrified I’ll get it, too.”

Jack and Bunny nodded in understanding. They had listened as Jamie had gone downstairs briefly to ask permission to even go into his sister’s room for a few minutes to check on her. It had taken several times asking before his mom had said yes. 

Jamie gently knocked on the door, other hand ready on the doorknob. “Hey Soph, I’m coming in to check on you, okay?”

“Okay,” Sophie’s voice softly acknowledged from the other side. 

The first thing Jack noticed when Jamie first opened the door was how tired and pale Sophie looked. She didn’t jostle herself too much looking towards the door from her position in bed, but she offered a smile to her three visitors. 

“Hey, Jamie. Hi, Bunny, Jack.”

“Hey, ya little anklebiter,” Bunny said, quickly going forward and kneeling to the side of Sophie’s bed. “How ya holding up?” 

It was then that Jack noticed the other figure on the other side of Sophie’s bed. The spirit sitting dutifully at Sophie’s side looking so young; she couldn’t have been older than Jamie at most. She looked like she had stepped out of a history book, her plain dress similar to what Jack remembered from his mortal life in the colonial era, though her dress seemed to be of much better quality than anything Jack’s mother or sister could have afforded. 

She glanced up, having felt Jack’s gaze on her, and her eyes held a sense of tiredness, as if she’d been doing strenuous work for a long time with no rest. Jack supposed she had had no breaks if she’d been sitting with Sophie for the past few weeks while ill, but that shouldn’t have been enough to make this girl look as tired as she looked.

“Uh, Miss, this is Bunny and Jack,” Jamie introduced. “They’re a part of the Guardians of Childhood.”

“Bunny, I’ve heard of,” she responded thoughtfully. Her accent was indistinguishable to Jack; it held a slight tone of English but didn’t match any accent he’d heard before. “He was around long before I was. But Jack is new. You must’ve come to be after the Black Death.” 

“The Black Death?” Bunny questioned. “That pandemic faded out centuries ago. Not even many of us older spirits exactly remember those times. What would you know about the Black Death?” 

She gave Bunny a gentle smile as she turned her attention back to Sophie, running her hand through Sophie’s blonde tangles, slowly working through them to smooth the child’s hair as she fell back asleep. 

“Your lot has always been the only ones Father called upon to aid children in their time of need.” Jack watched in amusement as her smile curved up into a mischievous smirk. “Some of us just aren’t as flashy with our talents.”

Untangling herself from Sophie’s relaxed form, she went to her knees on the floor and became concentrated and repeating certain motions as she waved her hands over Sophie’s prone body. Jack and Bunny watched in awe as Sophie’s skin began to glow with an orange tint. Singed particles that violently hissed seemed to melt off of her skin and fade away into the air above before dissolving into nothing. 

“Open a window, Jamie.”

Jamie nodded at the spirit’s wish, rushing over to the window and cracking it to let fresh air in. As he did so, the orange tinge faded from Sophie’s skin as she remained undisturbed from her sleep. The spirit sat back and sighed, regarding Jamie once more.

“She should start seeing great improvement by the morning,” she promised. “What I burned away were only remaining fragments. It took longer than I hoped for, but I’m starting to learn what she changed this time around.”

“You healed her?” Bunny questioned, skeptical as he checked over Sophie’s form when the spirit stood up and stepped back. 

The spirit nodded. “Yersinia is gone from this place. I must follow her to the next destination, try to cut her off.” 

Jack and Bunny only watched in disbelief as the spirit quickly walked to the window, opening it completely and turning to regard them. 

“Perhaps we shall meet again, Guardians. May the Moon guide you.” 

Her farewell given, the spirit climbed out the window and held a hand up to measure the wind swirling by before her body seemed to burn away into a bright flash, collecting itself into a ball of light that could easily be mistaken as a shooting star, and she was gone.

Jack turned to Bunny, whose attention was now turned back to Sophie as Jamie came over to join them again.

“Um… Should we go after her?”

“No,” Bunny decided after a moment of hesitation. “She didn’t hurt them. She’s safe… For now, at least.”

“So you really don’t know who that is?” Jamie asked, sitting at the foot of his sister’s bed. 

“‘Fraid not,” Jack confessed. “Did she ever give you her name?”

“No. Only talked about that Yersinia person, said she had to burn her away like before.”

The three sat in silence for another minute or so before a knock came at the door.

“Jamie, dinner’s ready.” 

“Coming, Mom.” He turned to Jack and Bunny as he stood up to go. “Don’t forget to close the window on your way out. Keep me posted, yeah?”

“We will,” Jack promised, and Jamie retreated back to his own room with his mother on his heels, her fretting voice echoing behind them. 

Bunny sighed as the silence returned to Sophie’s bedroom, and Jack stopped twirling his staff to focus on Bunny’s confused features. 

“As much as I hate to say it, mate,” Bunny concluded. “I think we need to make a pit stop at your mum’s. She’s the only one I know with clear memories of the Black Death. She might know what’s going on.”

Jack smirked. “Race you there, Kangaroo?”

To Jack’s delight, Bunny chuckled and stood up, rolling his shoulders back with a competitive shimmer coming to his eyes.

“You’re on, Frostbite.”


	5. kuga

“And this spirit… You are certain she is no harm?”

Bunny nodded as North regarded him and Jack with concern. When they had reached Seraphina’s hidden castle in the highlands of Scotland, the Guardians and Jack’s siblings had long since gathered throughout the evening, waiting for their arrival. Jack had felt slightly guilty. He and Bunny had gotten so caught up in their race they had added an entire hour to their travel time, determined to get ahead of one another or throw the other off of the trail. 

Mother Nature had been the only one without an obvious air of concerned tension around her as everyone listened to what had happened at the Bennett household. To the others, though, an unfamiliar spirit was troubling news, especially one that had been potentially under the radar for months. And dealing with things that seemed to connect from an era that most of them there had never been around for was a terrifying prospect. 

“Any ideas, shiela?” Bunny enquired, turning to where Seraphina stood in thought, her eyes scanning her many books in her vast library. 

The whole situation felt a little deja vu to Jack. Seven years ago, they were standing in the exact same positions, hoping his mother would know the miraculous reason behind everything happening. He could only imagine how many times throughout her long existence that she had been called upon for a similar scenario. Now her vast knowledge was being called to once more, and it would hopefully put an end to more issues than one. 

“What was the name she mentioned again?” 

“Yersinia,” Jack answered, watching as Seraphina’s eyes widened. “Said she had to… Burn her away? Like before during the Black Death?”

“The Black Death…” Seraphina trailed off, turning to a nearby shelf and merely grazing her fingers against the bindings of the old books. “I haven’t heard the name Yersinia since the Black Death…”

“But what do these two girls have to do with the bubonic plague?” Tooth questioned. “I don’t remember there ever being a spirit that could turn herself into a moonbeam by fire or any other form of being named Yersinia.”

“Because Manny focused your lot on providing children with a sense of normalcy they were losing in their childhoods,” Seraphina explained, still not looking at her guests. “Your jobs were helping keep the social system from breaking down even further. Yersinia was the embodiment of illness, a vile being that, just like Pitch, grew tired of being a myth only feared by those who had the damned fate of meeting their end by her doing. The Black Death was her greatest success. For almost five full years all mortals in the world feared her, and she grew incredibly powerful. Even more powerful than my father in his height during the Dark Ages.”

“And that girl did the dirty work of taking her down,” Bunny guessed. 

“Our first child together,” Seraphina confessed. “And the only one until Jack. Her name was Johanna Aegle, the Spirit of Fire.”

“But surely the only child of Man in Moon and Mother Nature would have been known before now, yes?” North challenged. 

“We never spoke of her during the plague to allow her to sneak around unnoticed past Yersinia.” Mother Nature frowned, pulling an old, tattered book from the shelf and gently opening it as she walked over to the group. “Yersinia was rash and violent, but she was just as smart and calculated. Any word between the spirits that traveled on the winds somehow made its way back to Yersinia. If we had sent the Guardians of Childhood after her, there would’ve been no chance. Johanna eventually succeeded, burning away enough of Yersinia’s energy to put her to sleep so that she would never cause trouble on her own ever again. Then our daughter disappeared, and not even Manny could locate her.”

On the page she settled on was a faded portrait of two women, one dressed in all white with fire at her call, the other in all black with rage in her eyes and the images that often portrayed death surrounding her, encased in absolute darkness. Both women held a fierce drive in the stance they were memorialized in, truly encapsulating a fight of the lives of everything the world had ever known, and neither were ready to back down. Jack locked onto the intense, driven flames glowing in Johanna’s blue eyes, finding them similar to the way she held her gaze when speaking of Yersinia near the end of their meeting. 

“She seemed convinced Yersinia was the one causing the Coronavirus,” Jack finally spoke up, tearing his eyes away from the page to look at his mother, who glanced up at him with concern. “She said she was finally learning what had been changed in the illness this time around, literally burned it out of Sophie’s body.”

“Every mortal soul she cures with her fire diminishes a certain portion of Yersinia’s power,” Mother Nature relayed, closing the book and holding it closely to her chest. “It worked the first time around. I have no doubt that Johanna is determined to make it work a second time.”

“So…” Daisy hesitated, but an encouraged look from Alex pushed her to continue. “This Yersinia is causing this virus? She’s killing all these people?”

“And causing as much chaos as she can along the way.” Mother Nature turned to regard Jack and Bunny with a stern look. “Go to Madrid. An outbreak sprang up overnight there. Find Johanna and get as much information from her about Yersinia as you can. It must’ve escaped our sights for this long because Yersinia’s strength is in finding distractions for others. She’s distracted all of us by going for children with no mercy in her outbreaks.”

Bunny nodded, appearing just as determined in his stance as Jack felt. 

“She will not be fighting her alone this time.”


	6. vitsaus

“I checked on Sophie between my stops in Berlin and my stops here,” Johanna greeted Jack and Bunny as they climbed into the bedroom of the young boy that Johanna was working her magic on. “She was actually sitting up with no more shortness of breath. Her family was relieved.”

“We never properly thanked you,” Bunny responded as he knelt by the other side of the boy’s bed, mirroring their last visit. Jack took to standing by the end of the bed and leaning his staff against the bed frame, watching the orange glow dance around with interest as larger pieces of burning ash melted from his frame. 

“There’s no need,” Johanna promised. “I can see how important those two are to you. It’s nice to see those strong bonds still being made between Guardian and child, despite how big the world is now.”

“The world is a lot bigger than when the Black Death ended, isn’t it?” Bunny sighed, looking down to the floor in thought.

Their tones made Jack feel like he was intruding, and he took to wandering back over to the window to look out towards the setting sun as he continued to listen to them talk. It wasn’t often that he got to hear Bunny talk about the past in a serious manner; he didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity. 

“I don’t remember much of the Black Death other than that it was a dark and stressful time to be in a position like a Guardian was,” Bunny continued. “Manny depended on us to keep social order as much as we could while he said he’d handle what was causing the plague. Then he sent you to fight her alone.”

“Father and Mother gave me the necessary tools to beat her,” Johanna defended, though she didn’t sound at all offended by Bunny’s statement.

“You don’t have to fight her alone this time,” Bunny urged, leaning forward. “We all want to help you. Mother Nature sent us to find out what you’ve learned so far so we can see where to go from here.”

Johanna regarded Bunny with an unreadable expression for several silent moments, causing Jack to look back over at the pair. Jack’s movement caused her gaze to slide to his form, causing Jack to feel uncomfortable for a moment or so before she spoke.

“He is also a child of Mother Nature and Man in the Moon.”

“Resurrected from the freezing waters in an American colonial colony in the winter of 1712,” Bunny explained. Jack let a moment of shock make its way towards his glance at Bunny’s form; he didn’t know Bunny knew anything about his re-birth as a spirit other than the fragments he’d explained after Pitch’s defeat. “When did they make you their child?”

“July 1348,” Johanna answered. “One of the first British children to die to the Black Death.”

“You were one of Yersinia’s victims?” Jack spoke up.

“I dared to defy her,” she sighed. “I ignored the warnings we were given when we arrived at my family’s castle in France. She struck me down quickly for my lack of acknowledgement for her. And then the town burned the castle with my body inside in an attempt to rid themselves of the plague.”

“And you were reborn from the flames,” Bunny guessed. 

Johanna nodded, her expression hardening. 

“It took four years to be rid of her. But anarchy will fall upon the world before then with how some of these humans act these days. What I don’t understand is how she was able to cause so much social chaos in such a short time.” 

“It was enough to catch us off guard,” Bunny added. “Tooth is reminding those in need of happier memories more than ever, and Easter was a right show, trying to keep up belief for the millions that weren’t allowed out to hunt for my goggies. North might have an easier time with Christmas, but we’re all still on edge. And Sandy has to work overtime to make dreams happy enough to make a difference.”

“She cannot be doing this alone,” Johanna decided, her eyes narrowing. “She must be getting aid from another dark spirit. From what you say of the Sandman, I suspect Pitch Black.”

“Turned ally seven years ago,” Bunny contradicted. “Mother Nature keeps an eye on him, and he hasn’t strayed from peace since.”

The room fell silent as all three spirits let their minds wander in thought. Jack knew he couldn’t be of much help; Bunny would know so many more spirits than himself, have a better idea of anyone who could have lost their way and turned dark to aid Yersinia. The portrait of her was still stuck in Jack’s mind - the portrayal of someone so dark and careless about the lives of humans. It made Jack wonder who would’ve thought helping her achieve these means was worth it in the end. 

“Jack!”

Jack whipped around to find Chris almost slamming into the window sill, the wind seemingly in as much of a rush as he was. The summer spirit was ungraceful as he tumbled into the room, almost taking Jack down with him. Getting up, he brushed off his clothes and ignored the other two as he focused on his brother. 

“Please tell me there’s a good reason for the blizzard going crazy in northern Russia. You know Mother hates it when you let out your anger in an unplanned storm.”

“What?” Jack questioned, glancing at his staff still sitting at the foot of the child’s bed, who he was surprised to find was still sleeping through all of the ruckus. “If anything, I’m behind on the storms! But I definitely didn’t start one in Russia. I came straight here with Bunny.”

Chris’ disappointed features dropped into one of growing concern. 

“Someone’s trying to take over your season.”

Jack heard a shuffling movement and glanced to see Bunny stand up tall. Johanna stood as well, her eyes portraying the many thoughts that were traveling through her mind. 

“What are we waiting for, ya gumbies? We need to get back to the Nature Palace. Now!”


	7. maras

Blizzards were not an uncommon circumstance to have to encounter in Russia. But Katya had to admit that even the madness swirling outside was not normal. Her parents stood at the window, watching and whispering in hushed voices so as not to worry their two children occupying themselves with toys by the fireplace. Sergei was unbothered by the events unfolding around him, happy with babbling thoughts of the train he hoped to receive from Santa to be run by the instructor doll his parents had surprised him with earlier in the night.

But as Katya pretended to continue to play pretend with her brother, she knew something was amiss. She was getting big, almost ten now, and she spotted abnormalities a lot easier than others gave her credit for. The cases of the disease that everyone was fearful of were spiking in Russia now, and Katya’s parents pulled her and Sergei from school, worried their entire family might become infected. Her parents tried to say they simply wanted to make sure the family was together for the holidays, but Katya knew the truth. She had only played along for her little brother’s sake. 

Katya wondered if her parents would believe her when last night, she had seen two figures walking along the street in the calm before the storm, speaking in tongues she could not recognize. An old woman and an old man, the former dressed in all black as if she were mourning and the latter dressed in the most luxurious furs and pelts she had ever seen. She had watched in awe as the old man had raised his hand to the sky and without any words, the storm began and they disappeared from view. 

But Katya knew her parents would just think her imagination was running wild with her again. She had always been an imaginative child, ever since she first saw Santa Claus running around with the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman when she was but a toddler. She had excitedly screamed at her window as she saw them go by, only for her parents to come in and tuck her back into bed, telling her that her dream sounded wonderful and she should return to it. 

And as her parents sent her to bed and went to tuck her little brother in, Katya once again looked out her window, hoping to see the old man and woman again to ask them why they wanted to scare her parents so. From the shadows across her room, she saw the smallest of movements, and she turned to see a familiar figure standing in the shadows that she befriended eight years ago as she started to lose her fear of the night. 

“Buka.”

He nodded, and Katya knew he understood her fears. He always knew what she feared, and like always, he would urge her into bed and sit with her until she fell asleep, chasing the nightmares away and allowing the good dreams to come through. 

Buka would set it right. She knew he would.

XXX

“I don’t understand why we’re still standing here talking about it,” Jack growled in frustration. Bunny watched as he paced back and forth, his agitation causing small sparks of frost to shoot from his staff at random intervals. Bunny had half a mind to take his staff from him, but he didn’t want to get frozen for trying. “There’s a snowstorm that I didn’t create causing havoc and I should be there taming it instead of twiddling my thumbs here!”

“And potentially send you barreling into who knows what?” Seraphina protested. “We must find out more. No one has gotten hurt yet. We have the time to gather information.”

Seraphina turned to where Johanna stood, surveying the portrait that had been shown to the others earlier. Her eyes held a fire within them, as if she was about to burn the book itself for holding a simple portrait of her greatest enemy.

“What good could it do Yersinia to do such a thing as this? She never bothered with the weather before. Not even during the Black Death.”

“It must come from whomever is aiding her,” Johanna suggested, looking up to her mother. “Unless there are any lesser sprites of winter that have escaped your notice, I can only think of one person who might aid such a monster.”

Mother Nature’s expression grew grim as she turned to the Guardians and her children. Before she could speak, a familiar black horse neighed loudly and rushed into the room straight to Seraphina, where it knelt and offered its mane towards her. Stroking the horse, the others all watched in silent. Bunny had learned in recent years that Pitch could send messages via his horses, but that only his daughter or grandchildren were able to access them. And as she listened, her expression grew far more concerned. 

“Tell him to join us.”

The horse seemingly dissolved itself to go through the floor as Seraphina turned back to the other occupants of the room.

“North, call to Manny. He must come here at once. Alexander, retrieve Father Time. Tell him we will need his help in punishing two unforgivable spirits.”

“Mum?” 

Seraphina did not turn to regard Daisy, only deepening the concern growing in Bunny’s stomach as the other two spirits quickly departed without question. She instead acknowledged Johanna once more, both of their expressions completely filled with tension and finality.

“Does he harbor anything against the Guardians?” Johanna questioned.

“He was angered by Jack’s raise of status,” Seraphina confessed. “Attempted to remove my child from existence. We stopped him, and he had promised revenge. How he has returned, I do not know. But my father just confirmed seeing them together in Russia. Father Winter is aiding Yersinia in this.”

“Father Winter?” Bunny caught on, tightening his grip on his boomerangs. “He was banished. He can’t be back.”

“Yet Yersinia and I were somehow awoken,” Johanna countered, looking to meet Bunny in the eyes. “The impossible has been happening, Bunnymund. It seems we may all be prepping to face round two.”

“But how do we defeat two spirits like Yersinia and Old Man Winter?” Chris questioned.

“We burn the pest.”

“And we turn winter against its maker.”


	8. katk

Jack frowned as North’s sleigh approached the storm. It was big and violent, a clear display of Winter’s power and a warning to those who would attempt to go against him. And it became clear in person this would not be the kind of storm Jack would create. His were always pure white and always held a sense of playfulness in how the snowflakes swirled around, while this storm was tainted with darkness and the snowflakes were fast and violent as they whipped around the area.

“I cannot fly into storm,” North decided. “We will crash.”

“Jack,” Seraphina spoke up. “Do you think you could get it under control?”

“I’d need a few hours and absolutely no distractions,” he answered as he continued to survey the area as they landed. “It hasn’t been contained at all. And it’ll fight against me if it was made by Winter.”

“You’ll probably alert them as soon as you start trying, anyhow,” Johanna spoke up. “They’ll surely be on the lookout for any disturbances nearby.”

“They’ll expect Johanna and Jack,” Seraphina thought aloud as the group climbed out of North’s sleigh. “They should be the first ones to go in. We can provide backup if necessary.”

“Ya want to send the two that they want to kill the most in there alone?” Bunny questioned, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know much about Yersinia but ya know the instant he gets a chance, Winter’s going to try to drag Jack back to his lake.”

“They most likely will not have known that we’ve come along, too,” Seraphina countered. “We have an element of surprise on our hands.” 

“And if we don’t?”

Seraphina’s gaze went cold at Bunny’s insistence. 

“Then we protect my children so they can get the job done, Aster.”

“We’re wasting time arguing about this.” Sparks were dancing from Johanna’s form; Jack guessed she was just as antsy to get in there as he was. “You two can have your spat later. Jack and I will go in first, and we’ll call for help if need be.”

“See if there’s anyone in danger because of the storm,” Jack suggested. “Try and lead them to safety.”

North nodded. “Good luck, comrades.”

As soon as Johanna and Jack disappeared from their friends’ sights, a bubble of clearness surrounded them, making them stop short. 

“They’re making us easier to find,” Johanna suggested. 

“Then we’ll make it fun,” Jack smirked. “Hey, Wind! Stir things up a bit, would ya?” 

The wind broke through the barrier that the storm was trying to create around them. Jack had trouble being able to make out Johanna a little to his left, but he knew that meant it’d be harder for Winter and Yersinia to sneak up on them. 

“So what’s the plan?” Jack asked, having to almost yell about Wind for Johanna to hear him. 

“We need to take down Father Winter first. This storm will make it nearly impossible for me to go for Yersinia without him interfering to stop any fire.” 

“And what of Yersinia?” 

“Don’t let her touch you. It’s a paralyzing burning sensation, and that will only be heightened with your winter powers.”

Jack began looking around, wondering where to even start with trying to find the two spirits. All he could see was muted white swirling around in a mad fashion, with the occasional outline of Johanna as he tried to not lose her in the storm. Gripping his staff tightly, he stepped forward, only to feel the snow start to move beneath him.

“Wind, take us up!”

Jack and Johanna shot into the air seconds before the snow that had previously been beneath their feet was suddenly swirling up like a tornado, chasing them. Johanna grabbed Jack’s hand to keep them together as they got swept up quickly in the mass of white, which tried to throw them every which way as Jack tried to get it under control. 

“Let go of me and shield yourself! I’m going to try something!”

Jack hesitated before releasing Johanna’s hand, and a moment after he created an ice barrier around himself, a burst of red sparks shot out from Johanna’s form, melting the tornado into tiny droplets. Steadying themselves on the wind, both spirits looked around quickly as a familiar dark laughter began ringing through the air. 

“Come out, Winter!” Jack yelled. “Don’t hide behind your storm like a coward!”

“If anyone’s the coward, Jack, it’s your fellow Guardians for not coming with you.” Winter’s figure appeared not too far ahead of the pair, his dark smile manic at the sight of the two. “Sending the two most vulnerable all on their own? Makes our jobs easier.”

“Indeed.”

Darkness seemed to bleed into the storm just with Yersinia’s presence, the temperature dropping further and making Johanna shiver. 

“This time, I’ll make sure to burn you past the point of return, you pest!”

“If you could even touch me in all of this,” the woman laughed. “In this kind of storm, your powers are only as good as a speck of dust in the wind. I have the almighty being of winter on my side. You are nothing now.”

“We have our own allies that can take you down,” Jack growled, gripping his staff tighter as some of the snow started to swirl around him in protection. “I’ve turned Winter’s power on him once and I can do it again.”

“We’ll see about that, Frost.”

The fight broke out so quickly that Jack could hardly keep up and process everything without putting himself in more danger. It was ice against fire, darkness against fun, one attack after another as Father Winter tried to capture Johanna and Yersinia tried to get to Jack. The two siblings were too focused on keeping the other’s attacker away to do much of anything else. And Jack wasn’t getting enough time to even try and get the Guardians’ attention for help.

That was when he felt paralyzing torment against the front of his neck, and he realized, as Yersinia made it close enough to close her hand around his throat, that the ear-splitting scream that pierced the air was coming from himself. 

“Jack!”


	9. plague

Yersinia’s grip on Jack’s throat was tightening by the second, and he found his body frozen from the raging intensity of the pain she was inflicting on him through her powers. His grip on his staff failed as it was quickly swept away in the raging winds. Winter’s cackle crowded the air as he went after Johanna once more to keep her from trying to help Jack, Yersinia herself bringing up a blanket of darkness to surround themselves. 

“Did you really think you ever had a chance at winning, Frost?” Yersinia’s whisper taunted him as she leaned closer to his face. “It wasn’t even you who stopped Winter the first time. And Johanna was too weak to finish me off completely. So what makes you believe that you could actually best us this time, when we’re so powerful compared to you?”

Without thinking, Jack attempted to scratch at her hand to get her to release his throat, but she chuckled darkly as he only succeeded in burning the tips of his fingers and whimpered at the pain resulting from it. His throat felt so raw now; he was afraid to see whatever scar would remain on his neck after this. 

“You should be thanking me, Jack,” she purred, making him shiver as she forced him onto his knees, grabbing his wrists with her other hand and bringing a yelp from his form. “Once Johanna is disposed of, Winter and I will take you back to your lake and finish what he started. You can see your family again, you know. I know you must have felt so lonely without them.”

“I have-” Jack started. 

“You think the Guardians are your family?” Yersinia grinned, her voice growing darker as she continued. “You’re all glorified babysitters. They didn’t pay attention to you until you were of use to them. And I think you know, deep down, that if the blasted Moon had never told them to, you would still be alone today. And you would welcome the release of his world that Winter and I are offering you.” 

Despite the extra pain it caused, Jack violently shook his head in denial.

“There’s no use denying anything now, Frost. It’ll all be over soon. Just accept the pain and greet the darkness, and you won’t even have to feel yourself drowning again. I can make sure you sleep through all of it, grant you one final act of mercy. Another reason to thank us in the end, I’d say.”

Jack could feel the darkness creeping on the edge of his vision as his body screamed for the pain to stop. He knew he couldn’t stop fighting to stay awake. He had to call for the Guardians. He had to make sure Winter didn’t hurt Johanna. He had to get back to Baby Tooth, who he promised he’d come back to. He couldn’t break that promise now, not when his little sister was waiting for him to come home.

“I suggest, Yersinia, that you get your paws off of my grandson. Now.”

The darkness seemed to turn on Yersinia, and she let out a yelp as it seemed to grip her and yank her from her grasp on Jack, letting Jack fall to the snow and find relief in its cold presence. Jack sighed in relief as a cold hand rested upon the back of his hand, smiling as the darkness receded and a staff landed next to his form.

“How are you, Gramps?”

“Don’t talk,” Pitch ordered. “Lay still. Let the snow do its job.”

“But Johanna-”

“Has the Guardians helping her against Winter,” Pitch promised. “Now shut up.”

Jack hummed in response, smiling at the growl it earned him from Pitch. The pain was slowly decreasing, and Jack could feel his body beginning to respond again, slowly reaching out to pull his staff to him and speed up the healing process. 

“You can never follow directions, can you, Frost?”

“I’ve never listened to you before,” Jack chuckled, wincing at how hoarse his voice sounded. “Why would I start now?”

When Jack tried to stir, Pitch reluctantly removed his hand and stepped back to allow the spirit to get to his feet. 

“Wind,” Jack gently called out, smiling as he felt the cold bite against his skin, further soothing it. “Let’s help the Guardians out with this storm, yeah?”

As the wind lifted him into the air, Jack turned to regard Pitch. 

“You coming?” 

“I’ve retired from fighting,” Pitch shrugged. “Besides, I have a… Prestigious guest to attend to.”

“Make sure to save some fun for Johanna,” Jack smirked, then let his face soften. “Thank you, Pitch.”

“Stop being sappy. It doesn’t suit you.”

Jack laughed as the wind shot him forward, the presence of Pitch disappearing and the sounds of the fight getting louder. He could see the frustration in Winter’s face as he tried to use his powers against the Guardians, Mother Nature, and Johanna all at once. 

“How!” he yelled in frustration.

“You have hurt children of nature,” Seraphina responded. “It doesn’t matter your status, Winter. Nature will fight back against you for hurting its own. Especially the children.”

“I will kill every single one of your children if it means getting back what’s rightfully mine,” Winter growled. “Starting with the two thorns in my side and finishing with the Guardian’s Lights.” 

“Let’s see you try, Winter!” Jack shouted, calling the storm to his side. “And this time, I’m taking you down myself!”

And Winter did try his hardest. He managed to get part of the storm back on his side, but it was nothing in comparison to Johanna’s powers and the Guardian’s back up. Jack almost felt bad, seeing how charred the spirit was by the end when he simply slumped to the ground and didn’t fight back when Bunny and North moved forward to restrain him. 

“Jack…” Johanna frowned as she and Seraphina rushed to him. “Your neck…”

“I’ll be fine,” Jack assured her. “Let’s just finish this.”

Both girls seemed hesitant, and he could see them itching to reach out and do something.

“Pitch made sure I was in the snow long enough to stabilize everything, I promise,” Jack insisted. “I have to go finish the storm off. I need you two to make sure everyone else in the area is okay.”

Both girls huffed.

“I’m checking you over once this is done,” Seraphina retorted. “And you don’t get a say in that.”

“Yes, Mother.”


End file.
